When the waltz ends
by Dreamwhisperer
Summary: He was just about to bring the gun to bear, when he heard the sound of two gunshots followed by panicked screams. Heero spun around startled. Relena...
1. Default Chapter

**When the Waltz Ends...**

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. If I did I would be very very rich. 

Notes: Okay, first this fic is rated PG-13 for language and violence. This and all my fics will be written with straight pairings in mind. However, if you like to interpret a scene as shounen-ai or whatever, no skin off my back. 

I'm specifically looking for constructive criticism, so that I may improve my writing. Though I would never turn away messages of praise if you think it warrants it. :) My special thanks ahead of time to those who leave reviews of any kind. And now without further ado... 

Chapter 1 

Peace minister Relena Dorlian paused as she stepped off the shuttle. Everywhere surrounding her were people shouting. A mixed cacophony of cheers and obscenities. This is the last one she thought. May God be on her side. 

Colony L12 was an isolated colony, an island in the sea of space. An island nation run like a Kingdom. Ever since its creation, it has had but one ruler, each generation run by the son of its founder. Of all the colonies, it was only L12 that had refused to sign the peace charter. Two years later, Relena had been both surprised and pleased when Duke Ream had finally contacted her inviting her to speak. If she could but speak the right words, the dreams of true peace could finally be realized. 

"This way Ms.Relena." Pagan said interrupting her reverie with a comforting hand on one arm. Relena couldn't help but smile at the kindly old man. He returned it with a look of fondness and affection. He then escorted her to where a car awaited them. He helped her into the car, then calmly began to weave his way through the crowd and down the street. 

"How was the flight my dear?" Pagan asked by way of small talk. 

"It was fine." Relena replied distractedly. 

After a moment Pagan spoke again. "You're worried about today's meeting aren't you?" 

Relena could only nod. "Duke Ream seemed eager, but-the others on the council...Everything depends on this meeting Pagan. One mistake and it could be another 2 years before they agree to join the confederation." 

"You needn't worry Ms. Relena. All the earth and colonies are now at peace and you had more than just a little to do with that. They will come to see that accepting peace and joining the confederation is for the best. You will show them that. I have complete confidence in you my dear." 

"Thanks Pagan. I hope you're right. Its just..." 

"Its just what, my dear? " Pagan queried as he made the last turn to the meeting hall. 

"I have a bad feeling about this." 

Adjacent to the meeting hall stood a lone figure. He scanned the area with his intense cobalt gaze taking in every minute detail. He moved with military precision as he took up position watching the pink limo as it pulled up at the curb. His mind continued to catalogue data of potential threats as his eyes zoomed in on the one he was suppose to protect. His attention abruptly wavered as the young woman stepped out of the car and turned to glance directly at him. Their eyes met for a moment, and her lips moved ever so slightly silently forming the sweet syllables of his name. 

Heero found his own lips quirking ever so slightly. _Relena..._She always seemed able to find him. For a moment, he was lost in her pure innocent eyes. How she had remained so after all she had lived through was a complete mystery to him. It had been too long since his eyes had looked like hers. His thoughts strayed to another pair of eyes. Those of a innocent young girl, who he had met outside the training facility so long ago. She had given him a flower, then run off laughing with her dog Mary. Unbidden, his mind then flashed to the rubble of ruined buildings and a dog curled up in the ashes. The trigger still gripped in his hands. He blinked then, breaking the spell. No longer able to meet her eyes. Relena seemed to sigh and then turning proceeded up the steps. 

Relena stopped briefly at the entrance as the doorman announced her arrival. She then, took a deep breath composing herself before calmly walking out onto the stage, smiling and shaking hands along the way. She was genially met by Duke Ream, who invited her to sit beside her. 

Heero, who had just moments before swung across and entered through a window, now took up position on an overhead balcony situated in the back of the hall. It was far from the best position, but it was the best he could find. He only half listened as he scanned the area for anything suspicious. The Duke had just finished his speech and extended his hand to Relena, when he caught a gleam that shouldn't be there. Heero was instantly in motion, jumping down from the balcony and running towards the sniper. The audience oblivious to the danger, had risen to clap at her introduction. After what seemed like long torturous seconds, Heero had manage to kick the gun out of the sniper's hand. The man lashed out at him. Heero ducked and dodged his attacks. The assailant made a lounge for the gun, but Heero beat him to it. He was just about the bring the gun to bear, when he heard the sound of two gunshots followed by panicked screaming. Heero spun around startled. _Relena... _He had only time to note the two bodies lying on the ground bleeding profusely, before he was clocked from behind. "Goodnight. Mr. Heero Yuy." Was the last thing he heard, before the darkness pulled him down. 

When he came to, he was sopping wet and someone was yelling in his ear. "Wake up, you sorry sonofabitch!" He grabbed Heero's hair harshly pulling his head up. 

He blinked his eye's clear. Trying to access the situation. It looked to be some kind of prison. His arms ached from holding his weight above the ground for so long. He must have been out for awhile. _But, what happened? What happened to Relena?_

"Come on you brute. Answer my questions now and we won't have to hurt you." At his silence, the man continued. "Who are you working for?" 

"Noone." Heero grunted out. 

"Don't lie to me!" His shout was punctuated a slap hard enough to make Heero's teeth click together, further aggravating the injury to his head.But Heero resolutely held onto his consciousness. The big man got ready for another swing, but was suddenly sent flying back as Heero's feet connected full force with his upper chest. His second in command knelt beside the fallen man as more men ran into the room trying to subdue the prisoner. Heero continued to swing from his chains kicking out whenever one of the got too close. Heero was just beginning to tire, when one man managed to grab hold of one leg. Heero tried to loosen his hold by kicking with his right. His eyes suddenly went widen and his right glanced weakly off his target as his whole body started to convulse. 

"Again!" Screamed the leader. The man behind Heero placed the taser on Heero's bare skin again sending painful jolts of electricity through the boy's system. The man shocked him again and again until Heero hung limply from his chains. "Now men," the leader smiled as he cracked his knuckles. " I believe it is our turn to get in some licks..." 

TBC... 

__


	2. Chapter 2

Arrrgghhhh! Sorry folks the reformat didn't take the extra spaces I had between the scenes. Hope it wasn't too confusing. Three reviews already, thank thank very much, you have made me soooo happy. :) 

Chapter 2 

"...This is very bad. Duo..." When he got no response, he repeated. "Duo!" 

"Yeah, I heard you Quatre." Then almost hesitantly he asked. "You don't think he did it do you?" 

Quatre rolled his eyes. "Of course not! If there's one thing I know about that guy is that he would NEVER do anything to hurt Relena." 

Duo nodded his head smiling "Yep you got that right. Heero's about as crazy as they come, but when it comes to that girl, he's just like one of us." 

Quatre recognizing something in his voice asked. "How's Hilde?" 

"Fine. She's fine. It took a lot of convincing, but I got her to stay home for this one." Duo shook his head, but Quatre could see the love and pride in his eyes. "Over eight months pregnant and she still thinks she can save the world." He smile again. "Not very much unlike someone else we know. Anywho, you were saying about Relena and the Duke..." 

Quatre sighed the smile fading from his face. "They're both still in intensive care. About a less than 40 percent chance for the both of them.." 

"I don't like those odds." 

"Neither do I. If either of them dies Heero will be executed." 

Duo was surprised "Without a trial?" 

"Colony L12 operates on stricter rules than any other colony. They have their own ideas of fairness and justice." 

"But he's not even a native to that colony. Surely we can convince them to extradite him." 

Quatre shook his head sadly. "You're forgetting Duo, Legally Heero Yuy doesn't exist. He is neither a citizen of the earth or the colonies. And I'm not sure that Earth Confederation is willing to take such a gamble in such a time over an unknown quantity." 

"Damn them!" Duo shouted in frustration as he punched the table. "We've come so far in the past two years. One more colony Quatre. One more colony and we could have seen the true peace we've been working for all this time. We were almost there." 

Quatre put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I know." 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

"Okay men back off." On command the five guards took and few steps back standing at attention. "Are you ready to talk yet?" This last was addressed to the battered prisoner. Heero Yuy painfully raised to stare back at his capture, his eyes bright with cold defiance. "Tell me what I want to know and my men will leave you alone. I might even be able to save you from execution." He let that sink in for a moment before continuing. " Who are you working for? Is it one of the colonies? The earth? Which one?Why did you kill Relena Dorlian and Duke Ream?' 

Heero had been defiantly starring at his captures, struggling with against his bonds until the last sentence fully registered. _Killed...Dead_. _Relena was dead. _He finally had the answer to the question that had been burning in his heart ever since he had seen Relena's still body laying on the ground bleeding. Relena was dead and the knowledge shattered his heart and told his blood to ice. His eyes lost their defiant look and his whole body sagged as the strength seeped out of him. The leader noticing the change in his demeanor, swore then marched up to him, harshly grabbing his hair and forcing his head up again. "This is your last chance assasin." He spat the last word. When all he got was empty hollow eyes gazing back at him, he swore again motioning for the men to resume their interrogatin. This time Heero didn't bother to fight back. 


	3. chapter 3

Chapter 3 

"We have to find out what really happened. We have to rescue Heero." 

"Heero's under heavy guard in a top security prison. Getting in won't be easy. Its not just the prison. With the assasination attempt, the whole colony is almost completely locked down and their military on high alert." 

"It shouldn't be too hard to get you too in." Said a familiar voice. 

"Trowa!" Both Duo and Quatre yelled as the other boy walked in. 

"Trowa, where ya been buddy?" Duo asked smiling broadly. 

"Inside there." Trowa said nonchallantly indicating the picture of L12 displayed on one of Quatre's computers. Duo whistled. 

"I should have known you'd find a way inside." Quatre smiled fondly. "When do we leave?" 

Trowa opened his mouth to reply then shut it as something as one of the emergency announcement screens clicked on the viewer. 

"We interrupt this program to announce sad news. Just minutes ago, Duke Ream of Colony L12 has died from complications after he was shot by an assasin currently in custody. Duke Ream senior has re-taken his son's place as ruler and is vowing that he will seek justice for his son's death. Starting with the execution of the assasin. ..." 

Quatre turned off the sound a pained expression contorting his face. Trowa nodded grimly. "We go now" 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

Heero woke up slowly. He winced slightly at the pain radiating from various parts of his body. The guards had worked him over pretty good. But for all the interrogation had hurt, it was nothing compared to the knowledge of his failure. The memory of her lying so still and bloody on the floor still scorched his heart and tortured his mind. At the recollection, he struggled again with his very real human emotions. It was a struggle that he had been having more and more since that day Relena had found him on the beach. He knew it had been her influence that had caused his human side to start to emerge and fight back against the soldier that had controlled his actions up until then.. He had began to open his heart and, even at times think about other possibilites. His soldier's side would immediately rebel against such ideas as it viewed these vulnerable times as a weakness that he couldn't afford to have. There would then be an ensuing struggle as each side of his persona fought for dominance. He had somehow maintained a precarious balance-until now. His humanity weakened with sorrow, pain, and guilt, now cowered within himself. The soldier had warned him, "the more you opened your heart the more vulnerable you are to pain and suffering. It is better to live without feelings or friendship" He no longer wanted to feel the overwhelming pain or the sadness. So this time when the soldier came r he welcomed him with open arms. 

The effect was immediate. The weakness in his limps were filled again with energy. The lost look in his eyes cooled and replaced with calculating hardness. All doubt and emotion was washed away to be replaced by determination. His awareness once again narrowed to his old world of missions and strategic outcomes. There was no longer room for anything else. No more worries of life, nor fear of death.There was only one thing left- the mission and this last mission would finally end it all. 

Tbc... 

Okay, that was pretty bad and probably confusing as hell too. Tell me what you think. The next chapter will be better. Its when things really start to get rolling. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 

Getting into L12 had been easier than Duo had ever thought that it would be. How Trowa had managed to infiltrate the colony's own military was a complete mystery to him. Perhaps it was just one of life's ironies, that a man with no identity could so easily assume any man's own. Trowa had even managed to produce papers that he had gotten from somewhere to get them into the jail, where Heero was being held. As awed as he was by Trowa's resourcefulness, he couldn't help but chafed at his own role in it. _Why oh why did it have to me be?_ _Why couldn't Quatre be doing this part? Because you idiot no body would ever have mistaken Quatre for a_ _criminal_. His mind logically reasoned. So Quatre got the easy part-waiting outside ready to cover their escape. 

"Walk prisoner or I'll have them drag you!" Trowa barked harshly as he shoved Duo forward for what must have been the tenth time. 

"Look buddy. I'm getting _real_ tired of you pushing me around." Duo yelled rounding on him. The irritation in his voice only half feigned. 

"Do as you're told and you won't get shoved." Trowa shouted back. 

"Hey! Hey!" Interrupted the guard who had been guiding them. He put himself between them. 

"Big mistake pal." Duo smirked as both of them clobbered him unconscious. Trowa caught him before he could hit the floor. 

"I've got him. You go find Heero." 

"You got it." Duo replied catching the keys Trowa threw him. He took a moment to free his own wrists before heading off at a trot. " Heeero. Heeero...here boy. Where are you pal?" Duo called as if looking for a dog. Trowa allowed himself a brief shake of the head before he tied the guard up and dragged him away. 

******** 

Duo felt like it had almost taken him forever to find the right corridor. Figures it _would_ be the last one, he thought. He pulled back suddenly into the corner wall. A few doors down, a guard stood alert in front of a double-barred cell door. That has to be the one, he thought. Then he sighed, how was he suppose to get in there? The guard was far enough down the hall that he couldn't help but see him coming. He knew he could take him. What he wasn't sure about was whether or not he could get to him before he raised the alarm. He was mulling over his options, when both him and the guard were startled by a sudden sound from inside the cell. The guard turned towards the door opening the slide and yelled inside "What's going on in there?" When there was no answer the guard cursed getting out his keys and started unlocking the door. Duo saw his chance and charged the guard knocking him over and punching him out. The guard barely making a sound as he sunk into unconsciousness. Satisfied at his handiwork, Duo quickly grabbed the keys and opened the door into the dark room. 

"Hiyaa...." The rest was lost in a whoosh as he was hit hard in the gut and chest causing him to loose all his breath and slump to the ground. Admist the blurring of his eyes, he could see a pair of familiar tennis shoes walking towards the door. He painfully rolled his body over still wheezing. "He...Heero" he gasped at the retreating shoes and biking shorts. The shoes hesitated turning. 

"Duo?" The voice sounded surprised. 

"Yeah Heero, its me buddy." Duo reassured him trying to sit up. He suddenly smiled. "Should have known you could get out all by yourself. Still you could at least apologize. That hurt!" 

"You'll live." Heero said simply, but he did go over and help Duo up. Duo frowned slightly noticing that Heero's hands were slick and his grip wasn't quite as sure as it usually was. 

After Duo had regained both his breath and his feet, Heero went over to the door to check to make sure that no one else was around. The hallway was lighted and for the first time Duo got a good look at him and he didn't like what he saw. "Heero, don't take this the wrong way, but you don't look so good." 

Instead of acknowledging the statement, he asked a question. "Why did you come here?" It was stated as a demand, but there was also a hint of puzzlement. 

"Well for one, we knew that Relena would be very pissed at us if we let you die." 

"Relena's dead." Heero said flatly. 

"Whaa? Who told you that?" Then realization hit." Those bastards!" He shouted forgetting for a moment to keep his voice low. "No Heero. Believe me she's alive." Heero's eyes widened for the briefest second then was quickly replaced by the cold hard look that he had had earlier. Duo frowned noticing this curious response unsure of its reason. " She's hurt pretty bad though. She's still in intensive care. Don't worry she's as stubborn as you she'll make it." He tried reassuring him. Heero said nothing. His eyes cast down, his mind thinking about things that Duo could only guess at. 

"Duo. Heero. " Trowa called. 

"Come on. Trowa's waiting." 

The trio cautiously walked around the labyrinthine halls of the prison careful to keep Trowa in the lead to deter suspicion. They got through to the courtyard without any trouble. Then as fate would have it a shout went up followed by the alarm and all hell broke loose. 

"Run for it!" Duo shouted. 

Tbc.... 

Please review. Nobody reviewed the last chapter and I'm starting to wonder if anybody is still reading this. Just tell what you think good or bad. 


	5. Chapter 5

Wow 3 more reviewers! Thank you so much. You make me feel soooo happy. 

Chapter 5 

The alarm bells were ringing. "Hurry get a doctor!" The old nurse said to the young intern. The slightly panicked girl ran into the hall. 

"Code Blue! Code Blue!" The girl shouted into the hall. Sally Po ,who had been down the hall suddenly leapt into action. 

"Get the crash cart!" She shouted. The young girl nodded her hands shaking a little as she wheeled the machine into the room. "Charge it to 50." The older nurse nodded taking over. 

"Charging." 

"Clear!" Sally yelled as she applied the paddles to the young girls chest. The girl's body jumped into the air as electricity ran through through it. "Anything?" 

The young nurse watching the monitors shook her head. 

"Okay give me 2 ccs of Epi." She turned leaning down beside the girl's ear. "Come on Relena don't do this to me. We need you here. Breath you can do it" 

"2 ccs of Epi." The nurse intoned as she gave her the shot. 

"Okay again. Clear!" Another head shake. "Charging...Clear!" A pause "Come on Relena! Your stronger than this." She pleaded. " If you die, Heero will have my ass!" She applied the paddles again. 

"Wait!" The nurse said indicating a blip on the monitor. 

"That's it. Come on...you can do it." She encouraged as there was a long pause. Then another blip and another. 

"Her pulse is starting to stabilize." The old nurse replied smiling. 

Sally let out a relieved sigh "That was too close." 

"You said it yourself. Anyone else would be dead with injuries like that. She's definitely got something that's tying her to this world." 

Sally nodded smiling. "Change her drip to 25 per minute." She lightly took Relena's cool hand in hers. "That she does." She replied crypticly. 

"Doctor?" 

"I'll stay with her for a while." 

The two nurses nodded their understanding and left the room. 

****************** 

"There they are!" A man shouted. 

"Shit!" Duo cursed as men on the balcony opened fire. They took cover behind a large drum. "Damn! We're still pretty far away from the front gate. From their position they'll pick us off pretty fast." He flinched from a near miss. 

"I'm out." Heero said calm as ever. Trowa calmly handed him another clip before returning fire himself. 

"We're going to need some sort of distraction...I know..." 

"I'll do it." Trowa said following the same line of thought. "You just get Heero out of here." 

"Trow..." Duo began, but Trowa was already up and into motion. "Wait! Trowa!" Duo cried after him. 

"Go! Quatre's waiting..." The rest was drowned out by the sound of gunfire. Heero knocked him out of the way of a new barrage of bullets. As he blinked the dirt and dust from his eyes, he frantically looked back for Trowa, but he was gone. 

"Duo!" Heero shouted to get his attention. "We have to make it out of here." His voice still as irritatingly calm as ever. 

"No. No Way!" Duo shouted suddenly angry. "I won't leave him, you uncaring bastard!." 

Instead of answering, Heero roughly grabbed him tugging him away from the shelter to better cover. The firing had eased up a little and they could hear cursing from some of the guards as they were taken down from some unknown assailant. Seeing their chance Duo and Heero took off for the gate turning around occasionally to trade bullets with the remaining guards. Surprisingly more guards appeared from somewhere. The duo pulled up at the last lone barrel before the seemingly vast open ground separating them from the gate. "I'm out. You?" Duo queried. 

"One left." 

"Shit! This sucks." There was no more cover the rest of the way. They'd have to run for it and hope that none of the gunmen got lucky. "Okay, there's no stopping until we get past the gate on 3? 1...2...3!" They both took off in a zig-zag ducking and dodging bullets. We're not going to make it, Duo despaired as the bullets got closer and closer to their mark. Suddenly there was an explosion, the shock wave knocking them both off their feet. Duo glanced around frantically the whole front of the prison was gone including the watch towers. "Trowa!!!" He screamed. 

At that moment a van burst through the gate. "Quatre?" Heero said surprised as he swayingly got to his feet. Duo noticing the state of his friend, forced his full attention to the one that he could actually help. He lifted Heero's arm over his shoulder and ran for the van. 

"Go!" Duo commanded as they got in. 

"But Trowa..." 

"Just go!" Duo emphasized his order by slamming Quatre's foot onto the gas. They were a few blocks away when Quatre spoke again. 

"He's gone, isn't he." Silence was his only answer. Quatre nodded to himself his face already wet with tears. Duo briefly put a hand on Quatre's shoulder to comfort him. "Somehow...somehow Duo, we have to make it all stop. " Duo nodded. He glanced over at Heero, who was was looking back behind them. _Probably making sure that we aren't being followed_, he thought. Then he saw it, the streetlight reflecting off of the moisture in his eyes. 

************* 

Sally Po leaned up against the door to Relena's room, struggling to keep her own emotions in check. Noin walked down the hall towards her. Her serious face fell further as she saw Sally's expression. She knew it must be bad if the stalwart medic was showing distress. 

"How is she ? " she asked dreading the answer. 

"Bad. We almost lost her again." 

"Damn those two faced colonists!" 

"Noin, we still don't even know if it was the colonists. And if it was we're gonna need proof. They... " 

"The Colony has been making threats. They're pissed at the assasination of their duke and they're even more pissed at Heero's escaped. Lady Une and Dorothy are having a time of it trying to keep the confederation under control. " 

"Any word from Wufie or ..." 

"No. Not yet." Noin sighed. 

"Don't worry. If there's something out there. They'll find it." 

************* 

Wufie had reached the area that Noin had indicated. She had been recieving reports of unusual activity in the area so she had requested that they take a shuttle at check it out. He had been searching the area for over half an hour and still hadn't found anything out of the ordinary. "There's nothing here. What does that _woman _want us to find?" He said frustration evident in his voice. 

The ice blue eyes behind him, narrowed at the way he referred to Noin. However, when he spoke his voice was calm. "Perphaps, there is something there. We're just not looking for the right thing." Wufie glared at him irritated by his inability to get a rise out of the other man. Zech ignored him. He was very well aware of the other man's frustrations and his tendency to take use it to cause conflicts with others. "Switching to spectral.Maybe there's fuel exhaust...." He broke off suddenly whistling. 

"What?" Wufie asked puzzled as he leaned over to look at the display. He suddenly felt a sinking feeling. The area that they were traveling in was a rarely used area. It was prone to stray asteroids and other space debris making it a dangerous place to navigate. Occasionally, a ship would dare to use this use route, but it was very rare. Certainly not enough to show the level of exhaust that they were detecting now. 

"Set course to follow that trail. I'll notitfy Noin." 

"Do you think..." 

"God I hope not or this may well be the end of our era of peace." 

Tbc... 

As always, please review and let me know what you think. 


	6. Chapter 6

Sooo sorry for the long wait. I've been fighting a bad case of writers block and only now was able to strain out another chapter. So without further ado.... 

Chapter 6 

"So there were two shooters?" Quatre asked his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline. He continued wrapping Heero's much abused wrists. They had arrive at the arranged safe house about an hour ago waiting in the hopes of meeting Trowa's contact. While they waited, Quatre had presuaded Heero to let him treat his numerous wounds. 

"Yes." Heero confirmed. 

"What one for Relena, one for the Duke's son...?" Duo scratched his head. 

"No, one of them knew my name. I think that they were expecting me." 

"Did you recognize him?" Quatre asked. Finishing with Heero's his arms, he pulled off his shirt to treat the damage there. He paled a little at seeing all the damage underneath. Duo winced. 

"No." Heero annoyed, glared at Duo. 

"Sooo...some kind of diversion then?" Duo asked quickly diverting his attention elsewhere. 

"Most likely. The man that I intercepted was dressed like one of the soldier's men. I never saw the other one. I heard gunshots and saw the Duke and Relena. I- I don't know what happened after that. I woke up in the cell." 

" I wonder why they didn't kill you." Duo mused aloud. 

"They probably needed a scapegoat. With Heero caught nobody would look for the real assassin. Its made even more perfect because he has no known affiliation with either colony L12 or the Confederation. No one would be able to disprove it. And if the assassin was dressed as you say, I wouldn't be surprised if he turned you in himself. No one would doubt his word." 

"Whoever is behind it must know at least somewhat how good you are. They would need one person to stall you while the other got the deed done. It wouldn't have worked otherwise." 

"So the question is who was the guy you intercepted? Was he a real officer turned traitor or a fake?" 

"Hard to say. They were pretty well organized. A lot of research went into that hit. They knew where I'd be and exactly what to do." Heero put in. "It could be a group from the confederation they would most likely have some access to some surveillance on me or..." 

"It can't be the confederation." Quatre uncharacteristically cut in. "They wouldn't stand to gain anything.They want peace as much as we do. Besides..." 

"Well they DO have a history of contention with that colony." Duo paused considering. "Still... They don't have any mobile suits anymore, right? Without them any conflict they caused would end rather quickly with them being annihilated." 

"Hn." Was all Heero said. 

" Okay, that leaves colony L12 and something internal to them. The government..."Quatre shook his head, "which is impossible. Maybe an underground faction." 

"Quatre." Heero warned. "Remember what I said before about kindness. There is no place for it in war." 

"Oh come on Heero, His own son!" Duo said. "Even OZ at its lowest could not be so heartless." 

"Heero, are you saying that no one else could have done it?"Quatre asked. 

"I'm saying that we should be aware of all possibilities and not dismiss them due to personal sensibilities.. This is more than a personal grudge against the government of L12." 

"What makes you say that?" Duo asked. 

"Any dissention against Duke Ream could have happened anytime. That the assassination happened at THIS particular meeting is too big of a coincidence. Remember the Duke wasn't only one attacked. They also shot the Peace minister. It was a statement, that whoever is responsible does not want peace between the colony and the confederation." 

"Maybe that is true, but it could also be one big fat coincidence." 

"A dissident faction would have most likely have either made some announcement of their involvement or made their move against the L12 government by now." 

"Unless getting colony L12 and the confederation on the verge of war WAS its ultimate goal." 

"It is unlikely to be a faction. The colony L12 is far too willing to place the blame on the confederation. Given the government's tight fists over the colony, if there was any underground activity at all they would most likely know about it." 

"Maybe. Most Likely. None of this speculation is getting us anywhere. Even if it were the colonial government, we have no proof of their involvement or even where to look for it. Our poking around could be the very thing that gets this thing started. We need solid information. " Duo sighed getting up and walking around tugging on his braid in frustration. 

"Trowa had arranged for his contacts to meet us here to give us some evidence that they had acquired." Quatre informed Heero. "Its already been an hour. They must have run into trouble. Trowa knew how to contact them and unfortunately he..." He tried to hold back a sob. "He never got a chance to tell any of us." 

"We could perphaps search for these people." He suddenly threw up his hands. "What am I talking about? Without a name or a face...Needle in haystack mean anything to you. We've already been too lucky not to have been picked up by now and thrown back into prison." 

Quatre sighed as he finished the last bandage. "Look its late. Let's just get some sleep for now. We can think of a more plausible game plan in the morning." Duo nodded in agreement, but Heero shook his head putting on his shirt and walking purposely toward the door. 

"Hey Heero, where ya going?" Duo who was the closest one to the door stepped into 

Heero's path. 

"Out." Was the simple reply as he tried to walk past him. 

"You can't be serious. Not in the state you're in..." 

"Get out of my way Duo." Heero warned. 

"Nothing doing. Help me out here Quatre." 

Quatre was beside Duo in a flash. "Duo's right, Heero. Its after curfew and you're a wanted man. You don't stand a chance. Please comeback and rest. We'll figure something out in the morning I promise." 

For a moment it looked like sense would reign and Heero would relent. Both Duo and Quatre started to relax. Quatre reached out a hand toward him. Lightening quick, Heero sprang into action knocking both Duo and Quatre away from him, Quatre made a heavy grunt as he landed hard on his butt. Heero staggered slightly from the exhurstion. Duo amazingly was still on his feet again blocking Heero. 

"I'm not going to tell you again. Get out of my way." Quatre felt goose bumps form on his arms at Heero's dangerous tone. 

"What did I tell you before about not overdoing it." Duo ground out as Heero punched him sending him to the floor. Duo grabbed hold of a nearby chair to help pull himself up. His eyes gleamed when he saw the open kit. He began quickly rummaging around until he found the object that he wanted. "You asked for it buddy." Duo mumbled to himself as he launched himself at Heero stabbing him in the neck with a hypo. Heero reacted immediately quickly swinging around, his face enraged. He swung hitting Duo again. 

"Why..Why did you do that?" 

"I though that you had gotten over your suicidal tendencies by now." Duo said now angry too. "I thought it pretty obvious. I'm not letting you leave. I'm not loosing another friend." 

"Trowa shouldn't have given his life for me. The evidence was more important. He should have risked his life for the hard evidence. That was the best way to stop this war." 

"Perhaps it was. But Heero,don't you understand anything. He wanted to rescue you. He cared about you." 

Heero tried to block out the sudden wave of pain and guilt."None of you still have learned that kindness is useless in war. I will not stand around and do nothing." He took another swing at Duo. Duo ducked avoiding the blow by a mere half-inch. 

"Dammit Heero!" Heero swung again. Duo ducked He noticed that Heero's movements had finally started to slow down." Can you stop being the soldier for and act like a human for once. Getting yourself killed won't bring him back." Duo caught his arm mid-swing.. Heero stumbled back slightly blinking. The anger slowly drained away replace by a look of bare uncertainty. 

"I don't want..." He blinked again swaying. "I can't ..." His eyes drooped close. Duo gingerly caught him before he hit the ground. Duo let out a breath. 

"What did you give him?" Quatre asked. 

Duo shrugged "one of those hypos out of your medkit." He tossed the now empty hypo to Quatre. 

Quatre read the label a frown of his face. "This dose is suppose to act instantly." 

"Figures. Stubborn Bastard." Duo muttered as he lifted Heero into his arms. 

********** 

"Its been confirmed." Dorothy announced as she entered Lady Une's office. 

"Dammit.Looks like we were right after all. How many?" 

"Unknown. The preventers picked up the transmission an hour ago from colony L08. It stands to reason if one colony lied to us then its possible the others..." 

"I know. Any word from Wufie or Zechs about that trail they're following?" 

"No. We've been unable to raise them. It could be do to natural space interference, jamming or they could have..." 

"I do not believe either of them could be defeated so easily." 

"In any case, You know that there are only so many things that it could be. You already have your answer." She said flicking back her long flowing hair. 

" I will not let the confederation be the ones who start it not as long as there is any possiblity of stopping it." She pinched her nose sighing. " Mr. Trieze, Duke Ream, Relena, countless soldiers, the common people of the colonies and Earth, I made a promise to myself to not let all they've sacrificed be in vain.Tell the preventers to lock down that factory on colony L08 and as well as any other colony that shows suspicious behavior. I'm going to call another council meeting." 

Dorothy nodded her agreement, then paused on the way to the door. "One thing, what if an attack by L12 can not be prevented?" 

Lady Une sighed "Then , I'll have no choice but to approve the use of Mobile Suits. BUT if that happens, we will make sure that this is the decision of the entire Confederation and not some rash action by one of the colonies. If we don't stand united, all of this could fall apart." It might anyway, She thought to herself. 

********** 

The first thing that Duo was aware of was a high pitched noise.. He groaned as he turned over. As consciousness began to return, he noticed that the sound was infact 

"Who is it from?" Came the sound of Heero's voice as he spoke to Quatre. It was followed by the sound of keyboard tapping. 

Duo opened his eyes yawning, wondering how Quatre and even Heero could be up before him looking so refreshed when he felt like he was walking underwater. Definitely need some coffee this time, he thought to himself. "What you guys talking about.?" 

"An e-mail." Quatre began simply. "I can't tell who its from though...Maybe its one of Trowa's contacts." 

Duo came over taking a look at the screen. It all looked like jibberish to him. 

_To : G21N4U13/P9L15T19_

_From: T8E/ 12O17D18/ 15F/ 16L1G21E_

_Enter Password_

__

"Man, I forgot how much I hate riddles." Duo scratched his head. Way to early in the morning. 

Heero was the first one to figure it out. "It is addressed to the Gundam Pilots. Its from someone calling themselves the lords of plague. It..." 

"Oh no!." Duo exclaimed. "Not them!" 

"You know them?" Quatre asked. 

"Yeah, I'm afraid we all do." Duo answered as he keyed in a password. 

After a brief moment, the e-mail opened a presumably secure video transmission revealing a knarled but familiar ugly man on the screen. 

"Dr. J." Heero gasped. 

"Right-O my boy." 

"So you survived again after all." Duo said grouchily folding his arms. 

"Duo." Quatre admonished. 

"We knew you'd be glad to see us." Professor G chimed in from somewhere behind Dr. J. 

"What is it you want this time?" Duo asked afraid of the answer. 

Dr. J smiled. "Nothing more than for you to listen...." 

TBC...... 

Any thought? Suggestions? Critcisms? Please review. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 

They had been traveling for several hours before Zechs told Wufie to stop. "It's here." Zechs said. 

"What's here? Have your eyes gone bad Zechs. There's nothing here." 

"The sensors say that what we're looking for is here." 

"Do you even know how to read the thing?" 

"Of course I do!" Zechs snapped. "Its more dependable than your eyes. Look the reading are too precise to be an error." Wufie leaned over to take a look, rudely checking the settings. He scowled. 

"Believe me now?" Wufie was about the retort back when he was interrupted by a alarm quickly followed by a mighty jolt as the shuttle was hit. "Mobile suits closing in." Wufie jumped back into the pilot's seat quickly grabbing the piloting sticks. They were abruptly jolted forward again as they recieved another hit. "Its no good." Zechs announced. "They've grazed the fuel tank. If we get hit again, we'll explode." 

"Then, I think its time that we go out and personally teach our opponents about honorable combat." Wufie said clearly annoyed at the enemies covert tactics. Zechs nodded as they got into their gundams and prepared for battle. 

************* 

"You want to stop this? Then give us back the assassin!" The Duke replied. 

" I told you, we don't have him!" Dorothy said to the viewscreen. 

"Of course not. Just like you no longer have any mobile suits. Really, Miss Catalonia this play at innocence is not convincing in the least." 

"Innocent." She smiled "I'm not nor have I ever pretended to be that, unlike you Duke." "What better role for the Duke to play other than that of grieving father. Surely no one would question a man who is merely seeking justice for his only son. "At the Duke's frown she continued. "Oh come now. You don't think that I was ever fooled by you. I know an ambitious man when I see one. I grew up in a world surrounded by them. There was a time when I use to enjoy the exhileration of battle every bit as much as you." She paused. "The last two years, I have learned many things. One of them is that there is a better way to live. A better way for all of us to live together. " She looked at him her voice almost pleading. "It's never too late to change. Your son...." 

"My son is dead!" The Duke shouted. "It is not something that can be changed or undone. It was your lies that turned him against me. My son was much too young to realize how the world truly works. He even believed that nonsense about peace that that princess of yours was spouting. If only he'd listened to me, this would not have happened." For a moment he seemed genuinely sad, then his face resumed its typically hard countenance.. "You have 48 hours to surrender. If you do not then I will have no choice, but to set out my army on you." With that he hit a button and the connection was abruptly severed. 

Dorothy sat back in her chair and sighed. 

***************** 

"Watch out!" Zechs yelled to Wufie as one of the mobile suits that he had winged spun out of control right at his comrade. Wufie shifted at the last moment causing his opponent to get hit instead. 

"Thanks for the warning, but I didn't need it." Zechs smiled. Some people never change, he thought. His smile turned into a curse a moment later as his screened beeped. "More mobile suits incoming." 

"Damn, where are they all coming from?" He shot two more mobile suits. " Its like they're coming from mid-air." 

**************** 

"I can't believe I 'm going along with this." Duo fretted for the hundredth time. 

"Quiet!" Heero whispered harshly The three of them were hiding behind some thick bushes halfway across the factory grounds. 

"They've helped us in the past. Why would they betray us now?" Quatre said trying to be reasonable. 

"Why? Oh I don't know. Maybe because they're EVIL. Quatre, they call themselves the lords of plague. Doesn't that mean anything to you? They delight in chaos. You saw how they were before-OW!..." 

"Quiet both of you." Heero whispered urgently. They all immediately quieted and hunched down closer to the ground. 

After the guard passed, Duo rounded on Heero. "You could have just told us someone was coming. You didn't have to pull on my braid." 

"It was the most efficient way." Heero shrugged. Quatre quickly hid a smile. 

Duo scowled. "Which way Quatre?" 

Quatre quickly referred back to his electronic map. "According the scientists' map. There's another way in over there." The three of them headed out towards the building keeping low. Quatre lead the way, while Heero covered their rear. 

"Now what?" Duo asked when they reached the door. 

"Give me a minute." Quatre replied as he hurriedly found and uploaded the passcode into the lock. "There." There was a slight beep followed by the sound of the lock releasing, then they were in. 

The three stalked quietly through the long dark halls. "I don't like this." Duo whispered to Quatre. "This is way to easy.' 

"Hey, where'd Heero go?" They were both suddenly startled at the sound of a muffled cry immediately followed by a hollow thump. 

"You're right. It was too easy." Heero said matter-of-factly as he proceeded to strip the guard, that had unknown to them snuck up behind them. He quickly and efficently tied him up and shoved him into the nearest storage room. 

"How did you ...oh never mind. I don't think I want to know." 

They continued on without too much difficulty until they came to a huge room. Duo whistled at the vast size of it. 

"Its huge!" Quatre gasped. Heero frowned. 

"Uh guys. Anyone else notice something not quite right here?" 

Quatre nodded as the realization hit him. "It's practically empty. Maybe...maybe the Doctors' information was wrong." 

"No," Heero said his voice filled with a hard surety."We're too late. They're already in use." 

"But Heero. There's nothing big enough that could have carried the number of suits that could have filled this place. We would have seen it." 

***************** 

Zechs ducked two more energy blasts. One of the suits got too close and he grabbed it using it as a shield against the other one. He shot the attacking suit down. Then he half turned throwing his prisoner away from him preparing to fire. He was surprised when the suit bounced off of something. "What the...Wufie, there's something over here." By that time the other pilot had recovered and shot back at him. Zechs ducked returning fire. The other suit was propelled back by the impact, the resulting explosion caused an outward arc of power that radiated up and out over some kind of energy shield briefly illuminating the invisible object as it continued the path. Both Zechs and Wufie watched as it arced further and further out. "Whatever it is it's huge!" 

Finally, the pieces all fell into place and he blinked hardly able to believe what his eyes were telling him.After a moment, he was finally able to utter the words. "OMG, It's a battle ship just like Libra." 

TBC....... 

Please review and tell me what you think. Thanks all! 

. 


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